The Quest of Topaz
by Starcharter-75
Summary: Prequel to The Wrath of Topaz. The twelve-year timeframe between Topaz's eviction from the Crystal Gems and the events of The Wrath of Topaz is chronicled. Rated T for violence (This story is a work-in-progress.)
1. The Seeds of Vengeance

It all began in the Crystal Temple, on a clear summer day, but there was no celebration inside the Temple. Three of the four Gems were inside a room deep within the Crystal Temple, lit buy by the glowing embers of the small lava pool at its center. To the right of the door stood a solemn Pearl, to the left stood a particularly guilty-looking Amethyst, and at the center, facing the door, stood Garnet, her arms crossed.

"Topaz," she began. "Enter." A loud footstep echoed in the room, and Topaz entered in his standard green and blue-colored power suit. His head was bent downward, and his arms were tied behind his back. He walked a certain distance into the room, then stopped several meters in front of Garnet. He fell to his knees and looked up at Garnet, who looked down at him and continued. "Do you have anything to say about the murder of Rose Quartz?" Topaz sighed, and said nothing. After a short time, Garnet continued. "Very well. Your punishment has already been decided. First, you are hereby banished from the Crystal Gems. As such, you shall no longer control the powers of your Gem." Garnet turned towards Pearl, who walked up behind Topaz and untied his hands, which Topaz removed from behind his back. Once Pearl had returned, Garnet turned back to Topaz, raised out her left hand, and snapped her fingers. A bright light shined down on Topaz's hands, and he watched, transfixed, as his glittering topaz Gems faded to ugly bronze metal. The topazes reappeared in Garnet's outstretched hand. "Your Gem room shall be dismantled, and the equipment you developed is now owned by the Crystal Gems, not you." Garnet clapped her hands once, and Topaz's suit shattered into a thousand pieces, falling to the ground like broken glass. As a horrified Topaz stared down at the pieces of his suit, Garnet walked up to the mess, summoned and energy bubble from her Gem, and gathered the pieces into the bubble, which floated upward to join the other bubbles gathered in this room. Garnet returned to her former position. "Now leave this sacred place and do not return." Topaz rose to his feet and began to exit the room, but paused at the exit.

"We will meet again, Garnet," Topaz had warned, and he left the room.

* * *

Three months passed. Topaz spent a long time wandering through the streets, wondering what to do next. The Gems, they didn't understand what had happened; only Amethyst knew what had really happened that night, and of course she didn't bother to say anything. For this, Topaz was very angry, but soon he began to formulate a plan, a plan to show those Gems that he was worth something, to make them regret what they had done to him. At first, it was just a split-second thought, something that most people would think of once and never have the thought occur to them again, but he thought of it again, and soon he began thinking about how he could do it. And the more he thought about it, the more plausible the idea seemed to him. But he needed an ally; before, his allies were the Gems, and they were the only allies he had ever needed. Now he did need a new ally, someone who could aid him in his conquests, someone who could understand him just as he understood himself. But where would he find this person? One day, he found out.


	2. A Helping Hand

At the time of the epiphany, Topaz was on a stroll throughout Beach City, desperately in need of money. He couldn't hold a job; his pride was such that he would not let himself diminish to the level of a 'corporate flunky'. As a result, he was broke. He rented an apartment, and was quickly evicted because he couldn't pay the rent, and his former landlord was ordering him to pay for the time that he had spent, so Topaz had gone out in search of money, though not completely sure how he would find it. And this is what Topaz was doing when he experienced his epiphany.

The deep-in-thought Topaz had not seen anyone coming towards him when he collided with someone. The man fell over, and the large stack of papers that he was carrying went flying and were scattered all over the pavement.

"Whoa, sorry there, Mister," Topaz apologized. He helped the man gather up the papers.

"Thanks." As the last papers were returned to the pile, Topaz stopped to examine one of the papers, which showed the blueprints to some strange device. "Uh, sir, I'd rather you not read those, they're very important…" Topaz ignored the man and kept reading the blueprints, and the more he studied the paper, the bigger his smile.

"Excuse me, sir, but you seem to be fairly advanced at the usage of machinery. May I ask you name?"

"My name's Tim."

"Tim. My name's Topaz. You need help with that stack of papers?"

"Sure, thanks." Topaz picked up a large portion of the man's papers. The two of them walked alongside each other and continued their conversation. "So, how's life?"

"Horrible. I was once the happiest man in the world; now I'm homeless, in debt to my landlord, can't pay my taxes, and I'm unemployed. How's your life?"

"Better than yours. I was going down to the post office to send this in for a patent." The two arrived at the post office and filed the papers. Topaz prepared to leave, but Tim stopped him.

"You know, Topaz, I can't stand to let you go on in the state that you're in right now. Why don't you stay at my house for a few days?" Topaz was about to say no, but then realized that if he was not meant to accept this offer, then fate would have never brought them together. He ultimately accepted the offer, and the two went to Tim's house together.

* * *

Another four weeks passed. Tim was able to save enough money to pay off Topaz's debt to his landlord, and for this Topaz was very grateful and admired him from then on. But Topaz still didn't have any reliable work, so he remained at Tim's house until a month later, when fate once again presented Topaz with an offer he couldn't refuse.


	3. A Blackmailed Purple Puma

"Topaz!" Tim had stumbled upon a way to help Topaz, and had rushed home to tell him, but the fallen Gem was asleep. "Topaz, wake up!" Tim shook Topaz's body, but it failed to wake him up. "Must be a deep sleeper…" He walked into another room, grabbed a megaphone, and returned to Topaz's bedroom. He turned on the megaphone. "TOPAZ!" The homeless man finally woke up, falling out of his bed in surprise and staring up at Tim.

"Tim, can't you see I'm trying to get some sleep?!"

"I have some great news!" Topaz got to his feet.

"What is it?"

"Some guys at my job were talking about an underground wrestling tournament. The winner gets a big cash prize!" Topaz raised his eyebrow, now interested.

"How much?"

"Would $10,000 suffice?"

"T- T- TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS?! Wait a minute- what's wrestling?"

"You don't know what wrestling is?"

"Not a clue."

"Well, let's see, you need a cool name with a fancy outfit, and then you go into this square thing called a ring and pummel the other person until they surrender to you."

"Sounds like my kind of game. I'm still not sure, though. When does the tournament start?"

"The tournament's next week, but there are matches every night at the abandoned dance hall on the outskirts of town."

"Then I'll go there tonight and see this game for myself." Topaz climbed back into his bed. "But I'd like to go back to sleep now."

"Very well. The match begins at 9:00 PM." Topaz set his alarm clock for 7:30 PM and activated the alarm. He set himself back under the warm shroud of the blanket, and Tim turned off the lights and left the room.

* * *

Within the abandoned hall, at 9:05 PM, a match was at hand. The challenger, The Blackbeard Bruiser, stood a futile effort against the champion, The Purple Puma. Amid all the noise, both of announcer and of spectators, Topaz sat silently in the back, observing the match; whatever this wrestling thing was, it was of little entertainment to him. Thankfully it was over quickly; Blackbeard stood little chance against the power of the Purple Puma. Though wrestling failed to amuse him, his thoughts were on a different matter, the matter of the Purple Puma. It was Amethyst, it had to be. The purple Gem, the skin color, the white hair; it all matched the chubby Gem that he knew. He decided to have a little chat with her.

Early the next morning, Topaz set out toward the Crystal Temple. It was easy to find; he had come to and from the area for millennia, immortal as he was and as the other Gems still were. He knocked on the door, and Pearl answered.

"Topaz?" Pearl looked rather confused to see her former comrade standing at the door.

"I need to speak to Amethyst privately. It's quite urgent."

"Well, she won't be too cooperative, but I'll go wake her up." Pearl closed the door and went to get Amethyst as Topaz listened to the sound of a crying baby.

"Must be Steven," Topaz concluded. The door opened again, and a groggy and disheveled Amethyst was at the door. The two walked a certain distance away from the Temple before conversing.

"Okay, Topaz, you dragged me out of bed for this. What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Amethyst, I know that you're sneaking out at night to go wrestling." Amethyst paused, surprised at his knowledge of her secret identity.

"Okay, so I am sneaking out," she eventually admitted. "So? What are you going to do about it?"

"Well, Garnet and Pearl are just inside that house." He nodded his head toward the Temple. "And I'd hate for my lips to, uh, 'slip' and tell them what you're up to."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

"Then I will." Topaz turned around and walked toward the Temple. He opened the door.

"PEARL!" Amethyst caught up with him and grabbed his arm.

"Okay, okay, I believe you." Pearl came to the door.

"Did someone call for me?"

"Never mind, Pearl, it's nothing." She gave Topaz a confused look before closing the door once more. Topaz and Amethyst returned to their previous positions away from the Temple. "Well, I suppose that I might be able to keep a secret, on one condition: I want information on the whereabouts of my Gems."

"What?! I'm not going to tell you THAT!"

"Fine." Topaz turned around and began to walk back towards the temple, but Amethyst stopped him.

"Wait!" Topaz turned around. "Garnet divided the Gem into eight pieces. She gave two of them to me, two of them to Pearl, and kept the other three. She scattered hers around the universe and suggested that we do the same."

"And let me guess: you kept 'em."

"Yeah, I did. But they're so shiny!"

"In that case, I'd like to make a bet with you. I'm entering that underground group's wrestling tournament." Amethyst burst out laughing.

"YOU enter the tournament?" Amethyst laughed some more. "You wouldn't last five seconds against some of those guys!"

"Try me." Amethyst suppressed her laughing, realizing that Topaz was serious.

"If you're so serious about it, then…" Amethyst thought for a moment. "If, and I mean 'if', you win the tournament, I'll give you one of your precious Gem pieces. And when you lose-"

"If. If I lose…" Topaz paused. "Do you like French fry bits?" Amethyst's eyes widened.

"Yes… I really like French fry bits…"

"Then if I lose, I'll buy you as many French fry bits as you can eat." Amethyst's mouth watered at the prospect. "Amethyst, do we have a deal?" She refocused herself.

"Yeah, of course. I'll see you next week." Amethyst returned to the Crystal Temple, and Topaz returned to Tim's house to plan for the coming event.


	4. The Magician of La Mancha

The Beach City Underground, Monday night, November 4th. The abandoned dance hall was jammed on this night for the beginning of the wrestling tournament. Topaz stood nervously in the ring, eyeing his adversary, for tonight he would now join as competitor rather than spectator.

Topaz and Tim had spent the whole weekend dreaming up Topaz's wrestling identity: The Magician of La Mancha. Personal wizard of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, the Magician had come to the States to prove to the naysayers that magic was real. His costume was that of a stereotypical magician; he wore a large black top hat with a red ribbon laced around it, and a white tuxedo with a black bow-tie. In addition, a black cape protruded from his back, and white gloves covered his hands and the bronze metal that was grafted to his palms. On his lower extremities were black pants and white spats that covered his legs and feet. A magician is not without his bag of tricks, and Topaz's suit was embedded with typical magician fare, but he would distort the tricks to serve his own purposes in the ring. Despite his preparedness, he was still nervous about the coming storm. He leaned down to Tim, who was just outside the ring on his corner.

"I don't know about this, Tim. What if I get hurt?"

"Please, Topaz, I'm sure you'll do fine. Besides, this is your only chance for some money."

"All right, but can you give me some advice?"

"My advice to you is, no matter what the circumstances, don't let anyone here make you feel like garbage. They won't be welcoming to you, and they will boo you; don't let that affect your match. Ok?"

"Ok. Thanks, Tim."

"Now go out there and kick some ass!" Topaz turned back towards his opponent: the Blackbeard Bruiser. He certainly was a diminutive man, much smaller than Topaz. He wore what was supposed to resemble a pirate outfit, and had a braided black beard. He vaguely heard the announcer proclaiming the men of tonight's match, for now he eyes laid intently on the Bruiser, who was going to look very bruised up after Topaz was done with him.

"Arrgh! I'll cut you to pieces!" The Bruiser pulled out a sword and charged at Topaz. Topaz removed his wand from the inside of his coat and pulled of the top, revealing a long metal sword. The two clashed swords several times as various cheers and boos rose from the spectators and filled the ears of both competitors. The crowd began to distract the Bruiser, and Topaz took advantage of his momentary distraction. He bopped the Bruiser on the head with the handle of his sword, cut his sword in half with a mighty swing, and grabbed the man with his free left hand. He lifted the Bruiser into the air.

"Presto, you lose!" Topaz lifted the man above his head and threw him hard onto the wall. It was all that was needed; the Bruiser was in no state to return to the ring, and was counted out. As an ugly mixture of voices rose from the ground, Topaz smiled and bowed, then went offstage to watch the next match. Tim sat next to him.

"I told you that you'd do fine," he commented. Topaz didn't even bother responding; he had no comeback for Tim's encouragement. Topaz ultimately would face off against several other competitors, but none of them would pose any more of a chance against the Magician than the Bruiser did. The Magician's first night had been a resounding success, but it was only the beginning.

* * *

Over the next two weeks, Topaz ravaged his way up the tournament ladder. No man could beat him; no costumed fool nor handsome jock could stand against the might of The Magician, who soon found himself standing before the Purple Puma, before Amethyst, in the square ring- at the championship match. While Amethyst played her act up for the crowd, Topaz stared on; he was uninterested in this show business, for he had his magic to do. When she was done, she turned back towards him.

"I'm surprised that you've made it this far." Amethyst smiled. "But I hope you're ready to hand over those French-fry bits."

"You assume too much," an uninterested Topaz responded. "Let us not delay this any further; we shall see which one of us is stronger."

"Fine then; let's fight!"


	5. First Shard: Pulverize the Purple Puma

For several moments Topaz and Amethyst stood still, eyeing each other from the opposing corners of the ring and waiting for the other to make the first move, as the spectators goaded them on. Topaz had seen the other fools that had faced Amethyst; they had all made the first move- and everyone knew what had happened to them. Rather than risk such an outcome, he would have her make the first move instead, force her out of her comfort zone. At last, Amethyst could take it no more; she lunged at Topaz with a snarl worth of her wrestling name, and Topaz leaped into the air as she pounced upon the ground where he would have been. Before Amethyst could react, gravity retook the Magician and he landed on Amethyst's back. What followed was a scene worthy of bull-riding matches in Texas: Amethyst bucked up and down, right and left, and Topaz clutched her back as she continued to thrash around like a wild bull. This scene carried on for several minutes until one buck too many sent Topaz flying off the Puma and crashing into the north-west ring post. He looked into the audience at his right and saw a man sitting particularly close to him with a violin in his hand.

"Excuse me, sir, but I'm going to need this," Topaz informed as he appropriated the violin for his own use. The man, who wore a black tuxedo and had frizzy brown hair, tried to stop Topaz, but the Magician still got the violin he wanted. He looked up just to see Amethyst charging towards him once again. Topaz removed a small metal ball from his coat and heaved it into the ground. His corner vanished into a massive cloud of smoke, and Amethyst came to a dead stop and her eyes darted all around her for Topaz. Unbeknownst to her, Topaz was directly behind her, violin in hand, and he raised the violin up into the air and brought it down with as much force as he could onto Amethyst's cranium. The violin shattered upon impact.

"My Stradivarius!" The frizzy-haired man stood up, irate as could be, as Topaz moved the stunned Amethyst towards the ring corner.

"You stay out of this," Topaz shouted back, and tossed what little remained of the violin's bow at the man. The wooden bits hit the man in the forehead, and he fell back down onto his seat, dazed. With the dazed Puma in his control, Topaz looked down and noticed the metal ring post in front of them. He ran his fingers through the Gem's hair, then grabbed the back of her head, reared it back, and bashed Amethyst's head into the metal bar several times before shoving her over the edge and out of the ring. Topaz backed up from the corner, and Amethyst hazily returned to the ring, her vision distorted. As she tried to refocus herself, Topaz removed a deck of cards from his jacket and began flicking the cards at high speeds towards Amethyst. The cards punctured Amethyst's skin and she yelped in pain as the cards stuck in the wounds that they formed. Topaz went through all fifty-two cards, the final one lodging in her forehead, and she stumbled backwards and fell down. Topaz looked on gleefully as Amethyst was counted out.

* * *

It was over. The Magician of La Mancha had beaten the Purple Puma; he had won the championship. Though Topaz had ended his financial woes by winning the $10,000 prize, his mind was only on one thing: Amethyst's Gem shard. He frantically looked around for the girl, but she wasn't in the hall anymore.

Rather, she was outside, already returning to the Crystal Temple after her dismal defeat. But Topaz caught up with her some distance away from the dance hall; all he had to do was follow the trail of playing cards that Amethyst was still plucking out of her skin. He grabbed the girl, who by now had shape-shifted back into her regular form, and lifted her into the air.

"The Gem, Amethyst?" Amethyst groaned, and reached into her pocket, removing the shiny Gem shard.

"Fine, here you go." Topaz smiled and grabbed the Gem piece from her hand. He put Amethyst down.

"You will mention this to no one." Amethyst nodded, somewhat stunned from her loss, and ran off into the distance, towards the Crystal Temple, as the former Gem looked on. Indeed, Topaz had secured a financial independence, but he also got something more valuable, worth more than all the spoils of wrestling; the first piece of his Gem.


	6. The Vision of the Shard

Now, some distance deserves to be skipped in this story, for little happened in the case of Topaz and his precious Gems. For eight and one-half years Topaz ravaged the wrestling circuit as the Magician, crawling his way out of debt and knocking Amethyst off her lofty perch as the most envied fighter in the BCU's history. For a long time, he had managed to put his past behind him, at least until one night, when his quest began once again.

Topaz had been sleeping in the bedroom of his house; he had moved out from Tim long ago and used his earnings to buy a new home. A jolt had run through Topaz in the middle of the night, waking him from his slumber. He stared up at the clock, which screamed a red **4:25 AM**. Topaz may have gone back to sleep once again, had he not looked up at his Gem shard, which he had mounted on his nightstand long ago, and had forgotten about it just as quickly. There it sat, aging and covered in dust, but tonight it was doing something different- it was glowing. Topaz was transfixed by the soft green light it emitted; he reached up and pulled it down. As he cleared the dust off of it, Topaz looked deep into the intensifying glow and a vision came from within it.

It was that of an endless field of sands, the glittering sands of a desert, in the midst of a fierce windstorm. The sands blew about in a dense vortex, but just beyond it, Topaz could see something. The outer border has a square shape with a large red border, and further there was a circular, green Gem at its center; it took Topaz some time, but he eventually remember it to be the Desert Glass. The former Gem was enthralled at the sight, and stared more intently at the device, but the vision gradually subsided; first the Desert Glass faded into the storm, then the sands vanished, and at last the Gem's glow faded into nothing. Topaz waited for what felt like a long time, hoping that the shard could give him more insight, but it did no more, and he eventually gave up and returned to bed.

* * *

Topaz's mind was now seized, seized by the sight that the Gem shard had brought him. With visions of the Gem pieces dancing in his head, he pondered and plotted on how he would go about the business of acquiring the remainder of his Gem. Indeed, such a job could not be done alone, and Topaz needed an ally once again. His thoughts dashed over to Tim, that short guy who had been so hospitable to him that one time when he was down on his luck. He decided to pay him a visit, and did so on a warm summer day, when the limbs of the trees were robed in the lush green of summer leaves, and when vacation is one the minds of youngsters. Youngsters like Steven, whom Topaz thought occasionally of and wondered how he had fared since he last saw him as a wailing baby.

Though it had been years since he had last visited Tim, Topaz had no trouble finding his house. The man had been quite surprised to see such a figure from his past.

"Topaz?"

"Good morning, Tim." Topaz walked inside.

"So, why'd you come?"

"Well, maybe it was for a bit of nostalgia." He paused. "Also, I need your help."

"Well, what can I help you with?"

"Well, it's a long story…"

"I've got time." The two sat down.

"Well, this might be kind of hard to believe, but… do you know the Crystal Gems?"

"I have heard of them, yes; they live in that big rock carving across town. Why?"

"Well then, I've got a story for you…" And thus, Topaz told all. The sad story of his suffering unfolded from his lips and streamed into the ears of the attentive Tim, as Topaz held in his tears.

"…Like I said, all of this may sound like a tall tale, but it's all true." He held out his palms and showed the bronze metal as Tim looked on in pity. Topaz sniffled. "They took away all that ever made me happy. To have that happiness back would be a blessing from Sapphire. Would you help me?" The small man was silent for a moment, but displayed the hospitality that Topaz had come to expect from him.

"Topaz, I want to help you. As I told you during your stay some years ago, I'm an engineer. I have a workshop that you can use downstairs, remember? I showed it to you."

"I don't, though you can show me."

"I am curious about something; why do you need my help? You know those people so well, it seems like finding this stuff would be easy, considering your knowledge of these 'Gems'." Topaz rose from his seat.

"Perhaps you fail to understand the scale of this. I am going to wage a war against the Crystal Gems. War is a science, I am its scientist, and no scientist is complete without a lab partner." He smiled at Tim. "Now, will you be my lab partner?"

"Of course; like I said, I'll help you any way I can." Tim rose and motioned towards Topaz

"Great! Now let's go see this worshop, Ti- wait a minute…" Tim paused.

"What is it?"

"Nothing really, it's just that… I don't like that name, Tim; it sounds too ordinary. You'll need a better name if you're going to be my assistant." Topaz pondered for a moment. "I got it! You shall be called… Agate!"

"Agate?"

"First name I could think of. But that's your new name, so you better get used to it." And from that day on, Tim would be known to Topaz as Agate.


	7. Preparation for the Quest

Agate led Topaz downstairs. Indeed, he had put a lot of effort into its construction; it would work well for setting forth Topaz's plan.

"So… will this work for you?" Topaz looked down at the somewhat nervous Agate.

"You've done your best to make it fit for a mechanic such as myself, and I'm glad for it. You and me, we're gonna make a good team." Agate smiled.

"By the way, how do you plan to get these pieces? If these 'Crystal Gems' are as scrupulous as I think they are, they'll have made it difficult for you."

"One step at a time, Agate. Before we can find all of them, we must first acquire this Desert Glass, and before we can do that, we must prepare to get it."

"How so?"

"If we're going to win a duel against magical elements, it will be through technology. Our technology at this moment is not capable enough to do such a monumental task, so we must advance it. Only with your help can I do this."

"Well, I'm ready when you are." Topaz smiled, happy at Agate's cooperation.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to work!"

* * *

The next eighteen months were spent in preparation, and both Topaz and Agate did little else than that during this time. Some would say that such an event was impossible, but Topaz's determination won over all odds. Sure, it was expensive, but Topaz's monetary gains from his wrestling career provided sufficient funding, and though such an event was grueling for the both of them, they pressed forward.

In short, with Agate at his side, Topaz put every last effort, sank every last penny from his career as the Magician of La Mancha, into this cause. And such effort led to a flowering of gadgets; thousands upon thousands were made by the two, and all would find their purpose in the great quest. And finally, after a year and one-half had passed, Topaz was ready.


	8. Strawberry Fields Forever, Part I

The quest officially began on a warm summer day. Topaz had finally finished work on his new power suit, which he now donned for the first time, and he and Agate were making final preparations for the journey.

"Agate, we're ready; we don't need to do anything else," Topaz reassured. Still, Agate wasn't sure that the former was ready to move forth with such a grueling plan.

"I'm just nervous. What if something bad happens? I'd hate to let all this work go to waste…"

"Don't be nervous; I'll be fine."

"Besides, what are we going to do with all of this stuff?! I'm running out of room down here to hold all your gadgets!"

"Well… we'll worry about it later. What's important is that we find out what the Desert Glass has to do with this. If my Gem received a vision of it, then it must have something to do with the other Gem shards." Topaz applied the suit's accompanying helmet and stepped onto the custom Gem teleporter he built. "Now activate the teleporter for me."

"But, Topaz-"

"Now!" Agate resigned his argument and walked over to the control panel. He pressed several buttons, and Topaz's location was engulfed in a large blue light. When the light disappeared, Topaz was gone.

Topaz stared around at the blue cylinder of light that encircled him as he was teleported. He reminisced on the many times he had journeyed through such a teleporter before, except during those times, he had enjoyed the company of those four wonderful people who he had enjoyed millennia with. The blue light disappeared, and Topaz looked around at his new surroundings. He was in a field of wild strawberries that expanded as far as the eye could see. A pathway in front of him led to a large upside-down pyramid. Topaz looked down at his arm.

"No better time to test the radio communicator." Topaz raised his left arm closer to his helmet. "Check one two; can you hear me, Agate?"

"Loud and clear." The response was a little fuzzy, but Topaz could still make out the words. "So, why are you out here again?"

"That vision I told you about, the Desert Glass was in it. Frankly, I don't know why they call it that anymore; it's not in the desert anymore. It's in the Pyramid Temple, which is where I am right now."

"Topaz, remember; I'm not a Crystal Gem, so I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Fine, I'll tell you. The Desert Glass was originally in the desert, until worshippers of the evil deity Obsidian got their hands on it. We and other Gems chased them down to this area, and after a long battle, the forces of good got it back. We built this here Pyramid Temple to commemorate the victory, and we put the Desert Glass in it. But now I need it back; I'm sure it's important to finding my Gem."

"Well, I wish you luck. Godspeed, Topaz."

"Thank you." The transmission ended, and Topaz walked forth to the Temple's entrance. The door was strangely open, so Topaz walked inside. He stared up at the various carvings, which depicted the battle that he had described to Agate. A doorway opposite the entrance was also open, so Topaz walked into the other room, and was in for a surprise- Pearl was there.

Her back was to him, thankfully, and she was standing in front of something. Topaz frantically looked around the room for something to hide behind, but only found the room's high ceiling. Seeing nothing else to hide behind, Topaz pressed several incorrect buttons before finally pressing the right button, and the ion rockets embedded in his feet activated. He flew up to the top of the room, clutched the ceiling, and hoped Pearl wouldn't notice him. Somehow, it worked; Pearl left the room without as much as a glance upward, and Topaz was safe. He carefully returned to the floor and approached the Desert Glass, which Pearl's body had obscured earlier. He carefully removed it from the wall, and stepped out into the hallway. Pearl was gone now, so Topaz moved towards the door, until something caught his attention. He walked toward it to get a closer look; it was an upside-down pyramid, not unlike the one he was in, suspended over a small platform. Topaz was about to return to walking toward the door, but he tripped and the force of his hands flipped the pyramid over. As Topaz pulled himself up, he felt the Pyramid quaking around him, and before he could react, the gravitation pull of the pyramid changed; Topaz found himself floating upward into a hole on the ceiling. After rising, or falling, through the shaft, Topaz landed hard on the ground that was now below the hole. He looked upward and saw the opening in the shaft close, trapping him down here.

The former Gem returned to his feet, dazed from the event. Raising his wrist communicator to his helmet, he attempted to radio Agate. "Agate, can you hear me?" The response was incomprehensibly fuzzy. "Agate, are you there?!" More messy fuzz came as the response, and Topaz turned off his radio communicator. He stared at the various doors that surrounded the room and decided that he had no other choice but to enter one of the doors. He chose the one to his right, at random, and entered the labyrinth.


	9. Strawberry Fields Forever, Part II

Topaz walked down a short hallway before emerging in another large room. The triangular doorway behind him closed, and another triangular door took shape in front of him. Various panels on the floor lit up before him, including the panel that he stood on.

"Just a guess, but I think I'm supposed to stay on the glowing panels…" Topaz moved forth, bouncing from panel to panel, and was able to reach the other side safely. Topaz paused for internal celebration, but it was cut short; the ground rumbled mysteriously, and Topaz struggled to maintain his balance as the vibrations rattled the room. Somehow, he was able to stay on his feet, and when the vibrations ended, he moved on to the succeeding hallway.

The exit to the next area wasn't so obvious, so Topaz began to look around. He noticed that some of the carvings on the walls had gathered dust from centuries of abandonment, so he attempted to clean them off, but his touch pushed a secret button embedded on the wall. Topaz heard a small noise above him and looked up; the ceiling had transformed into a wall of spikes. He yelped in surprise- and started running. The walls of spikes crashed down behind him, trailing the former Gem's path as he sprinted through the hallway. However, the door failed to open at the end of the hallway. He turned around and watched helplessly as the remaining spike walls plummeted to the ground, the final one landing right in front of him. As Topaz tried to get over the shock of the moment, the Temple rumbled once again. After the quaking ended, the door opened to the next room.

This next room, at first sight, would seem impossible for most. The particularly large room had many platforms to traverse, each accompanied by some sort of perilous danger. Large blades swung back and forth like dangling chandeliers between some platforms and some were drenched in lava, while others were beaten down by spikes and scorched in flames. But as Topaz stared at the colossal challenge, he became conscious of an immense loophole; frankly, he had no idea how someone so powerful as the Gem forces could have not known of such a loophole. To get past it, Topaz activated his ion rockets- and flew around it. Once on the other side, Topaz exited the room, still pondering what he had discovered.

Topaz looked around at the sight that greeted him after all his hard work- he was back where he had started. He stared up at the hatch that blocked his way out.

"Curse you, hatch! You'll see; when I get up there, I'm gonna… oh, why do I bother? It's a Gem structure, the only thing powerful enough to break it is…" An idea rushed into Topaz's mind, and he removed the Desert Glass from a pocked embedded in the arm of his suit. "…is the power of a Gem." He stared up again at the patch and realized that the idea was entirely feasible. "Hmm, if I can collide with enough force, then I might be able to get out of…" Topaz paused in his sentence and smiled, confident in his plan. He activated his ion rockets, held up the Desert Glass so that it was between him and the hatch, and blasted vertically upward. Higher and higher Topaz went, building more and more speed, until he reached the very top. The Gem impacted with the hatch with a tremendous amount of force, and the structure was no more; it shattered into a thousand pieces, and Topaz was back in the main room. He picked up the Desert Glass from the wreckage, and returned outside to the field of strawberries. He raised his wrist communicator closer to his helmet.

"Agate, you still there?"

"Yeah, still here. What happened to you; I couldn't hear what you were saying."

"I ran into some sort of labyrinth; it slowed me down a little. But I got the Desert Glass."

"Great! Hop on the teleporter over there and I'll take you back!"

"Sounds good." Topaz brought himself to the teleportation device, and Agate activated it from the other end. Though the trip went smoothly at first, the blue cylinder of light began to flicker some way into the journey, and Topaz watched helplessly as the flickering continued, becoming faster and faster, until- there was darkness. Topaz felt a great falling sensation in this darkness, and then he blacked out.


	10. Second Shard: Shattered Glass

Topaz awoke on what felt like a mass of grains of sand. He pulled himself up and looked around at his new surroundings. He wasn't sure where he was, but one thing was clear: the teleporter had not taken him home. He visually examined his power suit, and while it wasn't in quite as good a condition as it had been at the beginning of the journey, everything was in order. He raised his wrist communicator.

"Agate, are you there?"

"Yeah… I'm here."

"What the hell happened?!"

"The teleporter must have malfunctioned! I'm trying to work around it, but I need to know where you are."

"I don't really know, but I seem to be in some sort of desert. Actually, it kinda looks like the one where the Desert Glass once was."

"Well… just hang tight there, ok? I'll tell you when I'm done."

"Fine." Topaz turned around- and let out a scream at the sight.

"Topaz, what happened?!"

"Nothing, Agate. I-it's just that it's… it's…"

"What is it?"

"It's… a lion!" Not any normal lion was what stood in the presence of Topaz at this moment; this lion was covered in pink fur all over his body, with a tuft like cotton candy. If he didn't look particularly threatening at first glance, he didn't act like it either; the animal didn't move for several moments.

"Okay, it's a lion. Just stay calm, and it might not attack you."

"All right." Topaz lowered his communicator. "Hey, you… lion." It didn't move. Topaz then remembered who this lion was; the original guardian of the Desert Glass. He removed the Gem relic from his suit. "You want this?" The lion recognized the item, and he slowly approached Topaz. "I know you want this; you're supposed to guard it…" When the lion had reached a distance of merely inches from Topaz, the former Gem turned and walked some distance away. "But you can't have it." Topaz then paused in his tracks as he heard a low grumble. "What, you're mad? Well get this, buddy, this is mine now, and you're not getting it back." A supersonic roar rose from the lion, and it pierced Topaz ears like the thorns of a bramble bush; he shielded his eardrums from the loud noise. The lion leaped towards Topaz, just as a purple puma had nine and three-quarter years prior. Topaz leaped out of the way of the oncoming lion, extremely surprised at the lion's aggression; he remember it as a peaceful creature. Before it could reorient itself from the failed pounce, Topaz charged the lion, sending the both of them onto the ground.

The two rolled around grappling with each other for some time. Each got in their own hits, and the end result left both combatants looking all the worse for wear, but Topaz finally managed to pull himself away from the lion for just a second in order to rise to his feet. The lion got back up himself, and leaped at Topaz once again. In an act of desperation, Topaz shielded himself from the lion with the Desert Glass. The lion came down on Topaz's location and, somehow, the Desert Glass protected him- the fearsome creature's claw came down on the Glass and broke it apart. Shards went flying through the air and down upon the sands. The lion recoiled in realization of his error, and Topaz's eyes darted around at the shards. One of them looked different, colored a brighter green than the rest of the shards of the Desert Glass. Topaz picked it up, and recognized it at once; it was the next piece of his Gem. Topaz quickly put the Gem in one of the compartments of his suit, then looked down at the Desert Glass, which seemed to be magically putting itself back together. He looked up at the lion, who looked down on the shards with a short of shame, having failed in his duty to protect it. Topaz continued to stare at the lion until he left a rumbling below him. He looked down; the Desert Glass had returned to one piece, and it was not back in its old homeland. The lion scurried off from the scene, and Topaz began to run himself as aimless sand structures popped up around him. While he was running, his radio communicator activated once more.

"Hey, Topaz!"

"Agate, this really isn't the best time to talk!"

"Why not? I got the teleporter up and running again."

"That's great and all, but there isn't another for miles around!"

"But I fixed it so that it's a remote teleporter! I can take you back here from anywhere now! Only problem is, I'm not entirely sure if it works."

"Can't get killed for trying, Agate. Use that thing and get me outta here!"

"But what if it doesn't work?"

"Then we'll find out now, won't we?"

"But-"

"NOW!" Agate gave in to Topaz wishes and activated the remote teleporter. Topaz stopped running and stared up at the random sand structures forming around him. He turned around and watched in awe as a magnificent castle bloomed from the previously bleak desert. This sight was not in Topaz's sight for long- the teleporter brought Topaz away from all of this and back to Agate's basement.

* * *

"Topaz, what happened there?" This was the first thing Topaz heard upon his return to the basement.

"I fought the lion, and then the Desert Glass broke, and then I lost track of what was going on. You should've been there." He removed the shard from his suit. "Still, I got what I came for."

"Well, are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Topaz removed himself from his battered power suit. "Make sure to repair that for me; it took quite a beating." He began to leave the room.

"Where are you going?"

"To my house to rest. I need it." Topaz left the workshop, leaving Agate to repair his suit.


	11. Crime on Their Hands

"Topaz, are you going to go to bed anytime soon?"

"Maybe…" He continued to stare at what seemed like gibberish to Agate, who approached the intently concentrated man.

"Topaz, it's nearly four in the morning. You have to get some sleep!"

"Ugh, fine." He rose to his feet, and Agate could clearly make out Topaz's haggard features: the bags under his eyes and his arched back revealed his sleepy self.

"Hey, Topaz? You don't look so good." Indeed, Topaz was a weary man; his successful find of the second Gem had led to seven weeks of all work, no play, and no Gem. Even sleep didn't matter to him; this was not the first time that Agate had forced Topaz to stop his search for the night and rest.

"I'm just tired." He walked a few more steps, than stopped again. "More tired than I thought actually. I need a break."

"Hmm… you wanna go out to dinner tomorrow?"

"Why dinner?"

"Just because. You could use the food anyway; you never seem to eat anything I send down here anyway." There was a pause. "Please, Topaz?" Topaz's blurred vision made out the pleading gaze of Agate, and he was finally convinced.

"Well fine, then. Tomorrow, we are going out… to eat!"

"Yay! Now go to bed!" Topaz turned around, walked the remaining steps upstairs, and left for his own house and his own bed.

* * *

Just as the previous day had been, the following day yielded no results. Though Topaz put in his best effort, it was another day of failure to find the Gem.

"Topaz, remember…"

"I know, just give me a little more time." But no amount of time or effort yielded any sort of result from his search, and Topaz eventually gave up and went upstairs.

"Agate? I'm ready to go," he shouted, to no response. "Agate?" Again, no response. "Hmm, must've gone to the restaurant." His radio communicator woud not work because Agate was not at the base, so he called him on a nearby phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Agate."

"Oh hey, Topaz. You finally ready to go?"

"Yeah. Where are you?"

"There's this wonderful pizza place nearby; that's where I am."

"All right. See you there." Topaz hung up and set out, knowing the restaurant that Agate referred to- Fish Stew Pizza.

At the pizza restaurant, Topaz met up with Agate and the two sat down.

"Well, we're away from your little quest for once."

"It's actually kind of nice not to have to think about it. So… what was your life like after I left you behind?"

"Not much happened, really. I travelled some for my job, tried my hand at new inventions."

"Speaking of travelling, I went to New York City once."

"Really? Why?"

"To see a musical with Rose. I considered it a date, though Rose never thought of it like that."

"Really? What did you see?"

"_Cats_. It was a wonderful play, and she thought likewise."

"Interesting. Speaking of Rose, what do these Crystal Gems exactly do? You've never told me."

"Well I'll tell you…" As Topaz continued their conversation, a tall man entered the restaurant wearing a black zoot suit, a large pair of spats, and a black hat with a feather sticking out on top. The patrons all looked at him with a deep fear, including Topaz- he knew who this man was.

"Topaz, what's wrong?" Agate had noticed Topaz's concerned look at something beyond him. He turned around and took a glance at the man sitting several tables. Topaz leaned over and whispered into Agate's ear.

"Do you know who that is?"

"Chopper Kane."

"Yeah, Mr. Zoot Suit himself." Recognizable from the purple suspenders he wore and his yellow tie, the Chopper had become a major figure in the underground world of Beach City, and brought fear into all he encountered.

"Wait, you know this guy?"

"Yeah. Kane was always at the BCU wrestling matches, placing bets here and there. He's a filthy rich guy, and he's got the dirty money to show it."

"Why didn't you four ever do something about it?"

"The Crystal Gems are guardians of the universe, not vigilantes. It's not our business to interfere in the affairs of humans." Before Agate could respond, another gangster came in and sat at the same table as the Chopper.

"Oh no, it's one of his 'meetings'. This won't end well."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Tommy guns, little friends, and a pool of blood!"

"Geez, this guy's more violent than I thought."

"Let's listen in, see if it is really one of his meetings." The two got quiet and listened in.

"Now, Watson, I believe you have something that belongs to me."

"Watson?" Agate questioned.

"Gorilla Watson, one of Chopper's enemies. Now be quiet; I'm trying to listen." Agate quieted once again.

"Look, I don't got nothing that belongs to you, ya dumb truck."

"I'll say it one more time. I believe you have something that belongs to me."

"Look, I told you, it's not yours anymore; it's mine now, so keep your nose out of my business, you hairy ape." Chopper sighed.

"You've got a big mouth, Watson."

"Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?"

"This." He reached inside his coat pocket. "Say hello to my little friend."

"Agate, get under the table right now," Topaz ordered.

"Why? This is actually kind of inter-"

"Get under the table!" Topaz shoved Agate under the table where they were sitting, and Topaz ducked under himself. The two continued to listen from their position of relative safety.

"Chopper, wait, not this. I was just kidding, please don't-" Any further attempts of pleading from Watson was cut off by the loud noise of machine gun fire. Various screams shouted throughout the restaurant just over the loud noise of the Tommy gun. The machine gun fire stopped after about a minute of fire, and the two saw a pair of white spats leave the restaurant. They slowly got out from under the table, and examined the mess that had been made.

"Geez, Chopper really wasted that guy," was Agate's first response.

"He must've used at least an entire round." Topaz approached the scene. "Aww, Gorilla Watson never finished his pizza…" The hungry Topaz picked up Gorilla's slice of pizza and began to eat the piece, but after several bites, Topaz looked down and saw a sight that quickly made him forget about the pizza. He reached down and picked up the small, slightly aged piece of paper.

"Hey, Agate, come over here." Agate quickly walked over, and his eyes widened.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah, it's a map…" The two stared directly at each other, wonderous expressions on their faces.

"…to Chopper's safe," they finished in unison.

"We have to return it. Chopper will hunt us down if we don't," Agate warned.

"But what if Chopper has one of my Gem pieces?"

"True. But where's this building that the map corresponds to?"

"Judging from the layout, I think it's that dance hall 'cross town."

"The BCU building?"

"Yeah. Let's go there."

"Well I'll go with you, but know that I did warn you." The two walked out of the restaurant with a new goal in mind: find Chopper's safe, and maybe, the next Gem.


	12. Safe and Sorry

"Topaz, I really don't think we should be here," Agate whispered.

"My Gem may be in here, Agate. If it is, we have to get it." Topaz stared at the map and looked up at the building in front of them; indeed, the map corresponded to this building.

"But Chopper will come and kill us!" Topaz turned to Agate.

"Agate, what is wrong with you? You've never been nervous around me before, but as soon as this little punk on the wrong side of the law gets involved, you get all apprehensive."

"I admit, I'm afraid of him. After that demonstration earlier, I can't fathom what he'd do to us."

"Just calm down. Let's get inside and get this Gem piece." The duo entered the former dance hall.

On other nights, the hall would be bustling with people, and even Chopper Kane might have been here on such nights. But tonight was Sunday; there were never any fights on Sunday. The lights were all off too, bathing the building in darkness; a small flashlight that Agate had brought with him provided their only light.

"So, where is this guy's safe?"

"Let's see, we're right here…" Topaz pointed to a spot on the map. "…and the safe is right here…" Topaz dragged his finger across the map. "So that means the safe should be right…" Topaz and Agate turned to their left to find nothing but the wall. "…here?"

"Uh, Topaz? That's a wall." Topaz turned towards Agate.

"I… know!" Topaz punched the wall in anger, only to punch through the wall rather easily. "Wait, this is a fake wall! Agate, help me tear this down!" Agate came over, and the duo tore down the wall to reveal a safe. "Stand back, Agate, this might be dangerous."

"How so?"

"Well, neither of us are safe crackers…" Topaz removed a cutting torch from a compartment in his power suit. "…so I'll just have to cut the door open." Topaz activated the cutting torch and moved it along the perimeter of the door, cutting the door off and creating an opening in the safe. When this was done, Topaz picked up the quite-heavy door and move it to the side.

"Agate, hand me the flashlight." Agate obliged. "Wait out here; hopefully, this won't take long." Upon these words, Topaz went inside the vault.

What followed was a thorough search of the rather large vault of Chopper Kane. Topaz examined every corner, mapped every square inch of t

he possessions of the zoot-suited menace. Despite a thorough combing of the safe, Topaz was eventually forced to face the sad truth; Chopper didn't have anything to do with his Gem. The power-suited man eventually emerged from the vault, empty handed.

"Did you find it?"

"No."

"Aww, too bad. Now let's get out of here before Chopper finds us in here." The two quickly left and scurried off into the night.

* * *

But indeed, Mr. Zoot Suit would come back for them. Topaz and Agate both knew this, and tried to forget about it the next day, going about their regular business; Agate tending to the house and doing his job as an inventor, and Topaz searching in Agate's basement for the next Gem. At about noon, Agate came downstairs, looking quite frightened.

"Agate, what's wrong? You look as if you just saw the resurrection of Rose Quartz."

"R-resurrection?"

"Ugh, nevermind. So, why'd you come down here?"

"There's s-some at the d-door for you."

"Well, I'll go see who it is." Topaz went upstairs, Agate accompanying him, to find a man in a duffel coat at the door.

"So, which one of you is the leader here?"

"He is," the two responded simultaneously, pointing to each other. The man at the door rolled his eyes.

"Nevermind, just listen. I believe you have something that belongs to my boss." Topaz's eyes widened, realizing that the inevitable had happened: Chopper Kane had come for them.

"Well, I, uh- you see, we- I-" Topaz stammered, stuttered, and spat as he tried to answer the thug before him. He sighed.

"Maybe you didn't hear me. Then I'll say it one more time. I believe you have something that belongs to my boss." Topaz continued to stammer, and Agate stepped in.

"You see, we can explain ourselves." He looked up at Topaz. "Right, Topaz?"

"Yeah… yeah, there's a perfectly understandable reason for this-"

"I'm not interested in your reason for taking it, I only came to get it back; if you want to explain yourselves, you should see my boss. He'll be at Rizzolo's tonight at eight o'clock. I'll see you there." He turned around and began to walk away, but then turned around again. "Remember, eight o'clock." With those words, he walked away, leaving the two with an ultimatum: either show up, or face the zoot-suited fury of Chopper Kane.


End file.
